Plastic-Pack GaN Powers 3.8 GHz

Boosting signal levels at high frequencies often requires efficient transistor power, and a line of gallium-nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) devices from Cree helps cut costs with economical packaging. Supplied in plastic dual-flat no-leads (DFN) surface mount packages, these affordable transistors are meant to compete with silicon and gallium-arsenide (GaAs) devices for applications from 0.7 to 3.8 GHz. The product line includes 15- and 30-W output-power transistors for use at +28 and +50 VDC, in such systems as Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) cellular networks.

In one reference design, the devices are capable of approximately 50% drain efficiency at 10 W average output power and 16-dB linear gain from 2.5 to 2.7 GHz. Samples and reference designs are available for the 30-W model CGH27030S, the 15-W model CGHV27015S, and the 30-W model CGHV27030S GaN HEMT transistors.